1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to measuring caps and dispenser caps for bottles and similar containers, and particularly to a bottle cap which dispenses premeasured amounts of liquids such as detergents and other fluids.
2. Description of Related Art
Many products for use in the household come in liquid form, such as detergents for laundry, dishwashers, etc. The directions for use of the product frequently call for a measured quantity of the fluid. The busy homeowner usually does not have a separate measuring cup set aside for each such application. A better solution is to incorporate a measuring dispenser on the product container. Several devices have been developed to accomplish this purpose.
Numerous devices have been developed which utilize a moveable valve or piston. U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,074, issued Aug. 25, 1981 to W. S. Leinberry, describes a device for dispensing premeasured quantities of a concentrate in a toilet tank which features two valves tapered in opposite directions mounted on a stem which moves in response to the buoyancy of a float to alternately seat and unseat the valves. Two patents issued to M. S. Cater, U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,073, issued Sep. 15, 1992, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,148, issued Jun. 8, 1993, teach a dispenser utilizing a moveable piston and two chambers to ensure an accurate premeasured dosage after prolonged storage.
A third patent to Cater, U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,682, issued Jan. 28, 1992, describes a fluid atomizer, but does not mention premeasured quantities. Yet a fourth patent to Cater, U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,568, issued Jan. 18, 1994, discloses a pump with two moveable pistons and upper and lower chambers designed for fluid mixtures and suspensions, using grooves on the pistons to help mix the fluids and particulate matter.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,169,038, issued Dec. 8, 1992 to P. DiGiovanni, teaches a metering valve for a can where the liquid is ejected when the can is inverted having a valve with a push rod biased in the rest position by a spring. U.S. Pat. No. 2,530,012, issued Nov. 14, 1950, shows a spring biased valve above the mouth of the bottle which is pressed down and inverted to fill a measuring cup and set upright to pour the liquid from the cup.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,785, issued Feb. 28, 1989 to E. J. Pritchett, shows a cap with a valve moveable in a tube between three positions, the tube including a handle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,367, issued Feb. 16, 1993, shows a moveable valve and piston operated by squeezing the bottle. U.S. Pat. No. 1,326,253, issued Dec. 30, 1919 to Cordley, et al., teaches a bottle with a rotary valve controlling flow to a measuring chamber. U.S. Pat. No. 4,153,187, issued May 8, 1979 to J. D. Marrington, describes a valve moved between two seats by a trigger.
A number of bottle caps for dispensing premeasured amounts of liquid have been designed which use stationary partition walls of various geometric design and arrangement to control fluid flow. U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,736, issued Jul. 9, 1991 to Maruyama, et al., teaches a cap with two chambers having inlet and outlet passages separated by angled partition walls. U.S. Pat. No. 2,760,692, issued Aug. 28, 1956 to W. W. Buehlig, shows a dispensing cap with partition walls describing an S-shaped fluid passage having measuring and dispensing chambers defined therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,048, issued Apr. 30, 1991 to A. D. Mack describes a cap cover with a cylindrical tube defining a measuring cup depending from the cover and a conically shaped cap with a spout, the cup being filled by inverting the bottle and the liquid being poured through a hinged lid in the cover. U.S. Pat. No. 2,760,693, issued Aug. 6, 1954 to S. E. Mika, shows a cylindrical bottle insert having a circular flange extending over the lip of the bottle, the insert having a hole with a hinged cover in its side to regulate the flow of fluid.
In some devices, the cap itself is a measuring cup which is removed from the bottle so that the liquid may be poured into the cap and measured by sight. U.S. Pat. No. 4,349,056, issued Sep. 14, 1982 to J. Heino describes a cap, a container with a neck, and an insert, in which the liquid is measured by pouring into the cap and in which dripping of the fluid on the outside of the container is inhibited by the skirt of the cap scraping against the insert when the cap is inserted over the neck of the container. U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,381, issued Nov. 22, 1983 to E. W. Swartout shows a cap for a bottle with tapered and graduated sidewalls and an integral stopper having various structures.
The present invention concerns a cap used to dispense premeasured amounts of liquid from a bottle. The cap has an inner sleeve and an outer sleeve. Various embodiments are present, of which some have a moveable valve, and some have a series of partitions whose alignments are altered by rotating the outer sleeve. The cap may be made economically from thermoplastic materials.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.